It is with honourand esteem that we extend our welcome to Cardinal Lawrence Trevor Picachy. The Church in Calcutta and the people of all India are present today in our thoughts.

You have come in order to form part of the Sacred College of Cardinals: and you have come as another representative of the culture, civilization and wisdom of India. Above all, you have come as the worthy pastor of the Church of Calcutta, bringing with you “the joy and hope, the grief and anguish” (Gaudium et Spes, 1) of your people.

And we believe that the concern and pastoral solicitude of your ministry find support and help in the unity that we are experiencing in Christ. Indeed, it is the communion of the universal Church that we pledge ourselves anew to a mission of love and of genuine service to our brethren-a service that takes account of their human dignity and of their supernatural destiny. We want you to know we are close to you as you confront, with deep insight and devotion, the problems inherent in your ministry as Archbishop of Calcutta and as President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. On our part, we are fully convinced of the transforming and uplifting power of God’s truth.

Our recognition and our gratitude go in a special way to all who have laboured so generously for the building up of the ecclesial community in Northeastern India; for all of these priests, religious and laity we express deep affection and paternal love.

We send our respectful greetings to all the authorities and people of your country-that beloved country where we ourself were once received with honour, and upon which we invoke the blessings of genuine progress and true happiness.

This is an historic moment for Nigeria; an historic moment for Africa. In you we honour the entire Church in your country. In you we embrace, in the unity of Christ, the beloved clergy, religious and laity of your land. We express our esteem and love for you. We want you to know of our deep joy at seeing how charity has taken root in your hearts and how-to the glory of your Father in heaven-you have brought forth the fruits of good works in your Christian lives (Cfr. Matth. 5, 16). We render homage to your ancestors who opened their hearts to the word of God. In the name of the Lord, we thank the generations of missionaries-past and present-who, by divine grace, have been instrumental in bringing to you the inestimable treasure of faith.

Through you we send our greetings to the authorities and to all the people of Nigeria. We ask you to take our words, into your churches, into your schools and into your homes. Our affection encompasses the old and the young, the sick, the suffering, the poor.

We pray that integral development may be ever more the lot of all your people and “that the Lord’s message may spread quickly, and be received with honour . . . ” (2 Thess. 3, 1). And may the peace of Christ dwell in your hearts today and for ever.